AFGHAN PRESIDENT IN TEHRAN FOR OFFICIAL TALK
Tehran, 5 Safar 1435/8 December 2013 (MINA) – The Afghan President Hamid Karzai arrived on Sunday at the Sadabad Palace in northern Tehran, Iranian capital to discuss bilateral and regional issues with senior Iranian officials.
Karzai was welcomed by his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani at the Sadabad Palace in northern Tehran, where the two are scheduled to hold talks, Press TV reported as quoted by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA).
The two presidents are expected to discuss bilateral relations as well as the latest developments in the region, during their gathering.
Karzai also plans to have another meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. In August, the Afghan president had paid a visit to Iran to attend Rohani’s oath taking ceremony.
Some analysts have speculated that the security agreement between Afghanistan and the United States will be discussed during Karzai’s visit.
On October 12, Washington and Kabul agreed on a draft security deal that would keep some U.S. forces in Afghanistan after 2014.
In a series of public statements, Karzai has insisted that he may wait until next year to decide on the matter, even though the U.S. administration is pressing him to sign the security agreement by the end of year. If he does not, administration officials say, they will begin preparations for withdrawing all U.S. forces from Afghanistan by the end of next year, according to the Washington Post.
Tehran strongly backs Karzai’s stance in refusing to sign the deal.His trip comes a day after an awkward visit to Kabul by US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel amid growing disagreement with the Afghan president over the long-delayed security accord.
Hagel did not meet Karzai, which would have been customary for a Pentagon chief, saying that Kabul was already aware of the US position.
Washington and its allies have appealed to Karzai to sign the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA).
This lays out the rules for US and other NATO troops to operate in the country after 2014 on a mission focused on training, and countering Al-Qaeda-linked extremists.
Iran’s position on the BSA is that it would not serve the interests of its eastern neighbour. “Iran does not see the signing and ratifying of this security pact to be beneficial for the long-term interests of the people and government of Afghanistan,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said Tuesday.
Karzai initially endorsed the BSA, but has since refused to sign it and issued fresh demands.
The security agreement sets the legal conditions to permit roughly 12,000 NATO troops mostly AmericanS to remain in Afghanistan.(T/P04/P03)
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
